The Hogwarts Express is a legitimate themed attraction that provides an experience, as well as transportation to another park. Not a valid comparison to the monorail, which is just a people-moving transport option and not an "attraction". And they don't charge for it, you just have to have a park hopper, as it deposits you into...another park. It's brilliant, but not malicious.
Disney is indeed aiming at once in a lifetimers more and more, but the problem with alienating your regulars is that in hard times, the oncers don't show up. And hard times will come back. And when they do, if the regulars have been alienated, who will be around to pay $75 for dinner in Cinderella's Princess Sorority Cafeteria?
The monorail is iconic, so I would argue that it is an attraction -- as there is not much difference between the monorail and the People Mover or the even the MK railroad.
I guess it's not fair to compare it to Hogwarts -- but, Disney could charge a fraction of what it costs to ride on Hogwarts but they don't. I know that Hogwarts fee is bundled in the hopper but you are still paying to ride it. And, I agree with you that it is not malicious and it is brilliant.
I just think Disney deserves more credit for not charging for every little thing like fastpass and transportation between parks and hotels, including the airport.
You've made excellent points about the life timers. I agree that Disney is taking a big risk in alienating them, so if hard times ever roll back around -- the ball will be in their court and Disney will be forced to win them back.
ETA: And, that is only if the life timers can abandon Disney altogether, which I don't see happening. This group is very vocal when it comes to Disney World. The majority never do what they say they're going to do and sadly, Disney knows this. They know the life timers will always come back -- it doesn't matter if they skip a couple of years.
In the meantime, things continue to get worse and worse for them.
Just one correction there, the State of Florida had 105 million guests not just Orlando. I realize that so many people that chose to sequester themselves on 42 square miles of central Florida are not aware that there is a lot more to Florida then what they see through the windows on a Disney Bus. They may not be Disney World, but, many are very nice and fun places to be.
Thank you for catching that. I'm just a little tired, I think I need a brisk walk, lol. Anyway, I will correct it.
For the record, I love the greater Miami area, South Beach, Ft. Lauderdale and Jupiter. I began going to South Beach back in my early teens, every February to model for fashion designers, magazines and a few catalogs, too. And I also competed in a couple of tennis matches in Jupiter in my teens. So, I am familiar with other parts of Florida besides Disney and Orlando.
